User blog:Cougarcat/Top 10 Favorite River Monsters Episodes
After writing 8 rants about the River Monsters Seasons, its time to take a look at the episodes. Keep in mind that these are ranked purely based on my own opinion, and that I am extremely biased. You're list may be completely different than mine since everyone has different personal nostalgia. I will also not be quantifying my selections in any numerical way, simply stating my opinions of how they stand out even above the other episodes of my favorite show of all time. With that aside, let's begin our list. 10 - "Volcanic Island Terror " Kicking off our list we have the hunt for a beast so weird that even the locals who lived off these volcanic waters for centuries had no clue what their assailant was. This led to an air of terrifying mystery. Was Jeremy in for another task he couldn't complete like the previous episode. Then he met a scientist, who was able to film one underwater. From here, a scenic investigation ended with Jeremy hunting down a specimen and catching it. While it was certainly not the biggest fish featured on River Monsters, it was quite impressive in its own right. 9 - "Legend of Loch Ness " I don't watch River Monsters that much anymore, but I make sure to watch this particular episode at least once every year. I rememer thinking that Jeremy had absolutely no chance catching the Loch Ness Monster. While it was a slight stretch to link these tales to Norse mythology, the statues left by the early civilizations of this region show that their lore was affected by the Norse peoples. And then there's Jeremy travelling to a fjord in one of his most desperate attempts to catch the beast he found, the Greenland Shark . Really cool honestly. The only thing honding the episode back is that the fish at the end was too small by Greenland Shark standards, but that's pretty easy to overlook given how cool the investigation was. 8 - "Ice Cold Killer " Continuing on the path of the Greenland Shark we come to this awesome sequel to Legend of Loch Ness. This time we see science as well as traditional fishing techniques. Of course it all leads up to a fitting conclusion, a 200-year old 700-pound Greenland Shark. As I mentioned, if I have any complaint with Legend of Loch Ness, it's the fact that the beast at the end is tiny by Greenland Shark standards. But to an extent, I digress, because what I love the most about this episode was the settings. England, the cold and frozen Greenland, and in a last appreciated surge of real life fan service we saw Jeremy in a Norwegian fjord with his quest threatened by an Arctic storm. I will also say that this is the only episode that genuinely scared me. The Greenland shark was just so creepy, in a good way. 7 - "Killer Catfish " You can't not like this episode. Epic investigation leading up to the Goonch Catfish , an animal that is literally known as "the yeti of the river". i'm guessing that at this point most of us thought that this was a typical cryptid show where only evidence was found and no monster. Of course, Jeremy was just going to find some sort of weird sound in the water and conclude that "they do exist, the goonch do exist". And then he'd say something like "I searched hard for this beast and finally recorded this sound. While some may doubt that it's here, I am convinced that there is truth to the stories". Then the episode would be over, right? Wrong. In the most epic struggle I've seen on any fishing show, Jeremy landed the monster and showed it to us making our eyes pop. What more needs to be said? 6 - "Killers from the Abyss " Since Season 6 episode 1, there wasn't any two-hour episodes. The two hour premiere of Season 9 is one of the best episodes in the series. I was blown away by Amazon Apocalypse . The utter scale behind that investigation dwarfed any other. Well, any other with the exception of this one. The scale of the Laconia incident made the task seem so impossible. Then, the investigation led Jeremy so well to the biggest catch of his career. I just remember hearing of the enormous sharks that had been caught, and wanting to see one in front of the camera. With a great twist to the usual River Monsters formula, instead of ending the episode with this 1,100-pound fish, we saw Jeremy descend into the abyss in an awesome scene to behold this monster in its natural environment. This set a great tone for Season 9 and was certainly one of my favorite River Monsters episodes. 5 - "Return of the Killer Catfish " While for me the fish at the end is always the most important part of any episode, for many people, myself included, River Monsters is motivational. We watch this show to see a dude try to catch weird fish and succeed against all the odds. It is to us an analogy on life. We are inspired to perservere against all odds whether we are extreme fishermen or anything of the like. Why do I take time to paint this picture? In my opinion, the fact that Jeremy didn't end up catching the Goonch was not a let down. It was when I first finished watching, but after taking another look, there is so much to this episode. Awesome location, amazing investigation, the puruit of an even rarer beast, everything led up to this final moment. I was so certain that Jeremy would catch the fish. Seriously, he never failed to catch a culprit since 2012, so this is just going to be another catch, isn't it? I remember that one scene where it showed a flashback from Jeremy in the present to Jeremy hunting the Goonch in 2009. Of all the scenes in the series that do not feature a fish, this one is probably my favorite. And let's be honest, if any fish ever deserved to tie with Jeremy, it was the Goonch. I just love this episode because it is uplifting. It shows how failure can serve as a teacher. After all, in the end it seemed like the Goonch still inhabited the wild waterways of this region. Exactly 1 year and 1 day ago I failed to get a job, and I remember the first thing I did was watch this episode. It was just so... soothing, I guess. 4 - "Demon Fish " This episode was simply stellar. The start in the Congo river followed by an amazing hunt to rival that of any other episode. Then the catch. Its hard for me to break my feelings about this episode down into words. Just like Killer Catfish, it was a hunt against all odds to catch a monster that some would question existed. Then, Jeremy caught it. I think the Goliath Tiger Fish featured in this episode was perhaps the most impressive River Monster ever on the show. When people see something that terrifying, they usually imagine it to be a little thing like a Piranha. That's just how the world works... except for in this case. Certainly a monster that I will never forget seeing. Then, there's the bittersweet ending. Everything a good episode could possibly have. 3 - "Man-Eating Monster " We're now in the top three. That is to say that we've reached the episodes that I love to an unbelievable extent. Man-Eating Monster is just so epic. For years, Jeremy bragged of his 70-pound Piraiba and of how while it was nowhere near as big as Piraiba can get, it was still very large for this time. However, he returned determined to catch a monster that was truly deserving of the title of "huge" even for a Piraiba. And so he tracked this monster in the jungle through an episode of utter failure. Yes, failure was something that most of the episode felt like. It felt like the failure that comes from taking on an impossible challenge. Then, the weather cleared, and I just remember two lines. "Today I saw a rainbow", and "I awaken to the calls of howler monkeys". It just felt so much like the final clash that seemed impossible was brewing. Then, one of the most epic struggles on stream. Remember how I mentioned before that the Goliath Tiger Fish was possibly the most impressive River Monster caught in the show. Well the Piraiba from Man-Eating Monster was certainly up there, and perhaps even the number one. There's not much for me to say than that I love this episode. 2 - "Malaysian Lake Monster " Let's be honest here. I've watched Malaysian Lake Monster so many times that I can actually recite the narration of at least the first five minutes. It has never gotten old. I can safely say that I've never been so hyped for the release of anything in my entire life than the release of the River Monsters series finale. The first episode I watched knowing it was River Monsters was "Asian Slayer ". Ever since then, I longed to see a Sareng in River Monsters. Then, the epic finale of the entire series was to culminate in the jungles of Malaysia amid rumors of rogue Arapaima and a laundry list of other potential killers even including the environment. Then, Jeremy would travel into an ancient jungle to battle the only River Monster that he had failed to catch. What more needs to be said? 1 - "Deep Sea Demon " Deep Sea Demon is probably my favorite River Monsters episode. Not only does it begin with an impossible task like Legend of Loch Ness , it ends in an impossible way like Killer Catfish . Jeremy Wade sets out to uncover the truth behind the legend of the Sea Serpent. I'm guessing that most people were thinking that he didn't have a chance. Once he narrowed it down to the Oarfish, his chances seemed to shrink from small to nothing. How did he ever expect to catch this beast? When he travelled to the Mediterranean Sea, it seemed like he had a small, remote chance. Then, deep in the ocea, the technical challenges of his task were slowly getting to him. It was so epic to see him descend into the deep to take his last chance and then meet an impossible monster. It was just so awe-inspiring. This is just one of those episodes that I never get bored of watching, and is certainly my choice for the best River Monsters episode. Honorable Mentions: "Alaska's Cold Water Killer " For a time, this was my favorite episode in the entire series. Don't mistake the fact that I didn't put it on the list to mean that I don't like it as much. I simply found many other episodes that were also amazing. "River of Blood " Not only do I adore the setting, the investigation is also wonderful. Category:Blog posts